Up & Coming

THURSDAY 10/13

MEDICATIONS, THE HOLY GHOST REVIVAL

(Dunes, 1905 NE MLK) The reworked and slightly recast spawn of equally under-known Dischord Records band Faraquet, Medications are in many ways Dischord by numbers—an assessment that you already find very exciting or very boring in equal measure. Seattle's excellent Holy Ghost Revival, on the other hand, contort expectations of tedious glam... um, revival-ism into a carefully crafted, thoughtful, and powerful re-imagination. This band is good. ZAC PENNINGTON

THE PLANET THE, INDIAN JEWELRY, I AM THE ARM

(Holocene, 1001 SE Morrison) See My, What a Busy Week! pg 17.

RIDDENPAA, 01POP MUSIC, PASH

(Acme, 1305 SE 8th) Riddenpaa were recently seen playing with the likes of the Blow, Calvin Johnson, and others as part of the Le Bordeaux—Pacific Northwest Friendship Alliance; therefore, they should automatically appeal to that part of you that simultaneously longs to humiliate and be a part of anything French. They also played at last year's TBA fest, and brought an understated, emotional instrumentation reminiscent of Yo La Tengo to the stage. 01Pop Music is an eclectic outfit, combining airy pop vocals with a sample-heavy background. Both groups have been consistently fine-tuning their act over the last year, so the music is always progressing, and always has a little something new to offer. EVAN JAMES

(Loveland, 320 SE 2nd) The members of Smegma are older than my parents, and yet they named themselves after dick cheese, which is fairly rad. Like any avant-garde, quasi-performance group who name-drops Ornette Coleman, their output swings from moments of brilliance to endurance-testing jams on accordion and wood flute. But come on—AARP members paying homage to cock-rot? How could you not love them? CHAS BOWIE

UK SUBS, SADO-NATION, STATCH & THE RAPES, THE ALTARBOYS

(Dante's, 1 SW 3rd) At what point does sticking to your guns become just being stuck? UK Subs haven't changed much since 1977, but is that admirable integrity or have they gone stagnant? I've always sided with the former, but the Subs' new one, Violent State, feels kinda like my parents' friends who still have the same Jim Croce mustaches and listen to the same records they did in 1973. Not that a lack of innovation is necessarily going to keep them from totally destroying Dante's tonight, of course. Now, Statch & the Rapes, on the other hand, is artistic development INCARNATE. Their three-CD Trojan War concept record, I, Agamemnon, will be out next Tuesday on I'm Totally Making This Up to Prove My Point That Punk Rock Needs to Get Over 1977 Records. ADAM GNADE

GILLIAN WELCH

(Crystal Ballroom, 1332 W Burnside) Though I count myself in their number, folk music fans are a buncha dildos. Latest instance of them being unyielding, humorless, and stuck in a rosy, hazy past that maybe never happened, is the "reaction" Gillian Welch got to her new record, Soul Journey. Sure, they were stoked when she worked on O Brother, Where Art Thou? but now that she's added drums, organ, and electric bass, people get all grumpy like they did when Dylan first plugged in. Seriously. You stiff, stuffy, white, moldy fogies! Get over it. Soul Journey is old-timey folk and bluegrass plus all the best of modern alt-country—a solid, heavy, jammy piece of well-made music. AG

XBXRX, JONNY X & THE GROADIES

(Food Hole, 20 NW 3rd) See Music, pg 19.

FRIDAY 10/14

31 KNOTS, THE JIM YOSHII PILE-UP, THE DEAD SCIENCE

(Holocene, 1001 SE Morrison) See Music, pg 19, and CD Review, pg 23.

AGAINST ME!, THE EPOXIES, SMOKE OR FIRE, THE SOVIETTES

(Loveland, 320 SE 2nd) Although they already had a handful of smaller releases under their belt, Florida punks Against Me! really pounced into the scene with their highly beloved 2002 release, Reinventing Axl Rose (No Idea). As their movement gained momentum, it became inevitable that something huge was going to happen. Ultimately Against Me! decided to sign to Fat Wreck Chords in 2003, releasing As the Eternal Cowboy that same year. Fans misinterpreted their success, tagging them sellouts. Their new record, Searching for a Former Clarity, responds to the public cries and criticisms of the band's evolution. Throughout the album's 50-plus minutes, Tom Gabel calls himself an asshole, tries to quit the band, screams at the industry for making music a market, and dares the fans to see just how desperate and fucked up things can get. It's a back-and-forth argument, but it's also the most personally honest Gabel's lyrics have ever been. MEGAN SELING

PAINT & COPTER, ADULT CONTEMPORARY

(Towne Lounge, 714 SW 20th Pl) Few bands in town are as adept at fusing music and visuals ideas as the two-man operation Paint and Copter. I use the word "band" loosely, because collaborators Jason Frank and Andy Brown are more akin to scientists or conceptual artists than your stereotypically drunk-and-shaggy band dudes. Paint and Copter's performances always weave a web of interactive surprises: Drum pads may trigger flashes of light, or the movement of an audience member might trip a series of hazy, digitized images. Further pumping up their pedigree, Brown is a well-respected keyboard ace, having served time in '90s space-rock icons Jessamine and post-modern fusion group Fontanelle. JOSH BLANCHARD

TRAUMA LE TRON, NOSTALGIA

(The Know, 2026 NE Alberta) After the Spooky Dance Band's tragic loss of frontman Orion Satushek, members Caroline Buchalter and Jason Sands recovered and regrouped to join Beth Borland in what has become one of Portland's most unique and beautifully executed synth-instrumental bands. BTW, this is their last show—forever—so it's your last chance to finally hear that band you always hear about but never bother to see. Although they were short-lived, at least they are leaving us with one album, Rainbow Venom, an aural cinematic ode to the tender. Though they have repeatedly described themselves as "East German carnival surf music," this modest description lacks the emotive sincerity and sentimentality that their sound engenders. Ironically, their melancholic music will act as the perfect soundtrack for us to say good-bye to. JENNA ROADMAN

(Dante's, 1 SW 3rd) Dios (Malos)'s first self-titled full-length was an ambitious collection of stealth pop mastery. But that was back when the band just went by Dios, before Ronnie James Dio served them with a cease-and-desist order, citing potential confusion between Dios and his outfit, Dio (unlikely), and before co-songwriter Kevin Morales left the band. Dios (Malos), the band's again self-titled sophomore long-player, doesn't achieve the positive effect of Dios, but more unfortunately, listeners are subjected to lyrics—choruses even—like: "I get high/Don't know why/I get high/So do I," or "I love you till the end/Psych—I'm just kidding/Cause I hate the things you do." With the exception of a few cuts, (Malos) largely fails to deliver on the potential suggested by its predecessor. Hooks don't quite catch, melodies fail to infect, and songs build only to digress. The O.C. soundtrack people are gonna be bummed. GRANT BRISSEY

KOMPAKT VS. AREAL: SUPERPITCHER, ADA, METOPE, STRATEGY

(Holocene, 1001 SE Morrison) This show sits somewhere between Detroit techno and the end scene in Revenge of the Nerds when the nerds play crazy electronic music and win all the nerd-hating (read: SEXY) coeds over. Electronic labels Kompakt and Areal present a pretty decent lineup. We've got Germany's Superpitcher, who does something like Nine Inch Nails post-E-comedown, making tiny, lush, house tracks on their laptops. (It's close to people like Ellen Allien or Markus Nikolai, but a little more druggy.) There's also techno producer Michaela Dippel, who does music as "Ada," and her microhouse perfection vis-à-vis vocal techno bliss. Metope fits smack dab in the middle of the two. AG

(Loveland, 320 SE 2nd) Of all the super-mega-jumbo metal package tours this fall, this is the one to see. Montreal death-metal virtuosos Cryptopsy are always a worthy live attraction, if only to gawk at superhuman drummer Flo Mounier—but on this tour, they've got original vocalist Lord Worm back in the fold, too, thank goodness. Their new album, Once Was Not (Century Media), is a return to form, and easily their best since '95's classic None So Vile. New York's Suffocation are one of death metal's most influential (and best) bands, period. They managed a comeback album last year, the excellent Souls to Deny (Relapse), and when I caught them live last spring, they made the headliners sound fat and old in comparison. WILLIAM YORK

RALF YOUTZ

(Valentine's, 232 SW Ankeny) Ralf Youtz—the reason that political/horny locals Ape Shape are occasionally addressed with a "featuring former members of Built to Spill" addendum—rocks a solo acoustic set at the Northwest's latest occasional venue, Valentine's. ZP

SUNDAY 10/16

THE HOLD STEADY, THE CONSTANTINES, TIM FITE

(Berbati's Pan, 10 SW 3rd) See Music, pg 21.

THE EXPLOITED, RESILIENCE, VIRUS NINE

(Hawthorne Theatre, 1507 SE 39th) As long as you're going to troll the wax museum that is punk rock, you could do a lot worse than spend your dime on the Exploited, a Scottish punk band that came of age in the '80s. The subject of occasional useless debates about authenticity and selling out, they still produced one of the greatest stoner albums of all time, Death Before Dishonour (seriously, smoke a joint and check it out). And while their gigs are unlikely to be as riot inducing as they once were, at least you can say you've seen 'em. MARJORIE SKINNER

PORTLAND SACRED HARP SINGING CONVENTION

(Mississippi Ballroom, 833 N Shaver) I was dragged to one of these shape note singing gatherings a while ago expecting to encounter a bunch of hippies, Christian hippies, and Christians. I can't say that my expectation was wholly inaccurate, but it turned out to be six times better than a night at Chopsticks. Shape note singing's polyphonic sound is way more raw and rustic than gospel and its appeal is starting to be unearthed by the new-wave folk artists this paper writes about. Basically, people gather into a square of four different singing groups and harmonize a cappella, reading out of a songbook circa 1844. If you find yourself reluctant to go to church just to hear some soulful music, then you've got to try this atheist-friendly and mind-bogglingly beautiful music style. JR

MONDAY 10/17

DROPKICK MURPHYS, GANG GREEN, LOST CITY ANGELS, DARKBUSTER

(Roseland, 8 NW 6th) Chocolate and peanut butter. Ashford and Simpson. Jell-O and wrestling. Brilliant combinations, all of them. But sometimes mash-ups should never happen—especially when both elements already suck on their own! Take the Dropkick Murphys—Irish ballads meets SoCal punk? Somebody please tell me what we ever did to deserve this unholy union. CHAS BOWIE

GHOST TO FALCO, 2% MAJESTY, THE SHAKY HANDS

(Food Hole, 20 NW 3rd) If you have yet to see the retrofitted version of Eric Crespo's hushingly confessional Ghost to Falco—a prospect that seems fairly unlikely, as dude plays in town pretty regularly—you owe it to yourself to check them out in full-blown band mode as they kick off their latest West Coast tour. Also tonight: the spare, painfully earnest neo-hippie musings of violin/guitar duo 2% Majesty. ZP

TUESDAY 10/18

BROKEN SPINDLES, PORTLAND GENERAL ELECTRO, COPY

(Dante's, 1 SW 3rd) Broken Spindles is Faint bassist Joel Peterson's solo thing. His new record—after the totally personality-less self-titled Tiger Style release and Saddle Creek's booooring Fulfilled Complete—is a huge step up. Whereas Fulfilled was generic industrial electro for ESPN commercials, on Inside/Absent, Joel's coming from the heart—lyrics with a little more personal detail, songs that ooze out from their laptoppy un-originality to a nice, late-night, bedroom pop sort of thing. (Think Her Space Holiday before they became a parody of themselves.) Still, it's hard to get around the fact that if homeboy wasn't in the Faint, Saddle Creek wouldn't touch this shit. AG

DON LENNON, DENNIS DRISCOLL, SUMMER DANGER

(Dunes, 1905 NE MLK) The subject of an intensely miniscule internet fable, late '90s Bostonian indie pop band fetishists the Umpteens died a silent death in 1997 without properly recording much of anything. Some years later, a handful of demos began to circulate 'cross the net mislabeled as Endless Upteens—a mystery band with no origin that was easily digested by a tiny facet of the ridiculously obsessive twee pop community. Meanwhile, Don Lennon, the man behind the Umpteens, kept making music on his own for a number of years— completely oblivious to his non-fame—releasing four solo albums since the demise of his short-lived band. Not that any of this means that anyone has any idea who Don Lennon is, of course—but it does make for a pretty good press release. ZP

NEW YORK RIFLES, THE PURRS, THE TOUGH & LOVELY, PANDA & ANGEL

(Berbati's Pan, 10 SW 3rd) See Music, pg 21.

WEDNESDAY 10/19

GOGOL BORDELLO, THROW RAG, THE SCOTCH GREENS

(Berbati's Pan, 10 SW 3rd) Gogol Bordello's shredded and stitched Balkan/gypsy/punk rock is aggressively infectious party music. Perhaps their most impressive aspect though is the deftness with which they travel between high-art legitimacy and complete degeneracy. They are an alcoholic sextet that leaves smashed property and general blacked-out inappropriateness in their wake, yet they maintain themselves and their rigorous touring schedule via grant money. Undoubtedly the most belligerent mob to ever get invited to the Whitney Biennial. Hats off, sirs. SAM MICKENS

HEADPHONES, CRITERIA, ROY

(Hawthorne Theatre, 1507 SE 39th) See My, What a Busy Week! pg 19.

TEGAN & SARA, NORTHERN STATE, HOT IQS

(Crystal Ballroom, 1332 W Burnside) It's hard to hate bouncy Canadian rock duo Tegan and Sara, whose new album So Jealous is their catchiest, glossiest, most danceable yet. What sets them apart from other catchy, glossy, danceable Canadian rock duos is their very sharp senses of humor, which manifest in performance in T & S' trademark, highly entertaining onstage banter. JUSTIN WESCOAT SANDERS